Lucy, a referee herself, was forced to call the police the night Michael awarded Real Madrid a last-minute penalty in their Champions League quarter-final win over Buffon’s Juventus before dismissing the veteran goalkeeper.

Buffon slated Michael after the incident in March but has since apologised for his comments.

"It is obvious that I have transgressed and I am sorry," Buffon said. "But it was a very special situation.

"I couldn't do anything else but say those things and I am sorry to have offended the referee."

But Buffon's comments on Thursday seem too little too late in comparison to what what followed the game.

Buffon's actions land him in trouble (Image: REUTERS)

Michael Oliver shows Gianluigi Buffon a red card (Image: AFP)

Michael and Lucy Oliver (Image: @LucyOliver_7/Twitter)

Lucy revealed sthey received death threats because of Buffon's red card (Image: @LucyOliver_7/Twitter)

Lucy’s phone number was posted on social media leading to threatening text messages, while abusive comments were made online.

Speaking about the controversy for the first time on the eve of Michael’s big day, Lucy, 28, said: “With that Juventus game, I was watching it on television at home

“Then someone came to my house and shouted “Your husband is a c***” through the letterbox.

“I was in the house on my own, I could see those Tweets, then I heard that. I was crying my eyes out and had to call the police.

“During the next four or five days I was never on my own, it was a mixture of the police always being there or a member of Michael’s family.

“And the Premier League were unbelievable, absolutely fantastic. Everyone was so supportive and, thankfully, that was the only person who came round to our house.

“I came off social media for two weeks and have now changed my settings so I won’t receive notifications unless it’s someone I am following.

The pair on holiday in New York (Image: @LucyOliver_7/Twitter)

Lucy says she is proud of her husband (Image: @LucyOliver_7/Twitter)

“I no longer see what they are Tweeting me. It’s a shame, but while social media has its perks, it also has setbacks.

“I miss out on some really lovely things because people do say nice stuff, people can be lovely. Yet you are talking about one nice Tweet – and 99 telling you how rubbish you are.

“I find that when English fans are being really personal they don’t tag you. Then your name starts trending and it is like, ‘What have I done now?”.

“When it is probably a little less raw, I want to go out and help people understand that when you troll online the trolling doesn’t stop there.